THE STORY OF MY WIFE'S FIGHT WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS, LUNG TRANSPLANT...AND WHAT I LEARNED FROM IT.

On New Year's Eve 2014, 37 years into her fight with Cystic Fibrosis, Rebecca Poole went into respiratory failure and was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. They told me that she would not be able to breathe on her own without a double lung transplant and then they said she was too sick to qualify for one.

We started 2015 with a prognosis of 'days to weeks'. The year brought pneumonia, aspiration, septic shock, and something called ECMO. I learned that walking on a ventilator was possible even though talking was not. I learned that you need to find joy in every moment because those moments are limited. I learned about Rebecca's weird affinity for tapioca pudding even though she was not a grandparent over 80. I also learned several lessons that helped me get through the situation, both in the hospital and outside of it. I decided to write a book because I believe that this perspective can help others.